Harley-Davidson Inc. in Milwaukee and Lorillard Inc. in New York are fighting in court about an agreement under which Harley-Davidson licenses its name to Lorillard for a cigarette brand.
Harley-Davidson filed a lawsuit yesterday in Federal District Court in Manhattan in response to a suit that Lorillard filed last month in the same court accusing Harley-Davidson of frustrating the licensing agreement, which began in 1986. Harley-Davidson's countersuit asserted that an unspecified Lorillard campaign for Harley-Davidson cigarettes was being aimed at children. Avrett, Free & Ginsberg in New York, which creates campaigns for Lorillard brands like Kent, is also agency of record for the Harley-Davidson cigarette. The agency is not named in the suit.
"We were dismayed by Lorillard's 'Don't ask' policy when we sought information about how their ads affected kids," said Richard F. Teerlink, Harley-Davidson's president and chief executive. Several telephone calls to Lorillard were not returned.